In this sermon, the preacher warns against the seduction of worldly desires and the influence of evil spirits. He emphasizes that true satisfaction and fulfillment can only be found in the Lord. The preacher addresses those who have fallen away from their faith and urges them to open their hearts and recognize the destructive nature of worldly temptations. He also discusses the widespread seduction happening within the church and highlights the importance of self-reflection and confession. The sermon emphasizes the need to stay rooted in the truth of God's word and resist the allure of worldly pleasures.

This message is one of the Times Square Corporate Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Editapes are available by writing to EO Challenge PO Box 260 Lindell, Texas 75771 or calling 214-963-8626. Many of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies and hypocrisy having their conscience sealed with a hot iron forbidding to know and commanding to abstain from meats which God created to be a single thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. Now folks, before we pray, get this right. I'm speaking to those who have fallen away tonight those who have matched them to young people, teenagers, parents, whatever you may be. Please, open your heart. This is not a deep, hard message to understand. It will be very, very simple and direct. And Christians, if you're here tonight please pray with me that God will strengthen Mr. Prince the Word and the Word will come forth with conviction and that the Holy Spirit will accompany the Word and save tonight and save lives. That's what the church is all about here, folks. That lives will be saved. We thank God for the past two years and two months where he's ministered to Christians and sinners and strengthened us. Now it's time to reach out. We're going to reach out to the exceeded in a special way in this next year. Hallelujah. A lot of evangelism, a lot of evangelistic preaching. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray tonight for the living Word that you've given to us. We thank you, Jesus, for the faithfulness of the Holy Ghost. There is no devil in hell that can stop the Word of God from going forth in Times Square tonight. In just a few weeks, there will be a million people outside these doors. Many drunken. Lord, there will be all kinds of violence. But there is a testimony of Times Square. And on the Judgment Day, when New Yorkers stand before you, Jesus, you will be able to say, I was there. There is a witness right in the middle of Times Square. Lift it high. Oh, God, lift that testimony high tonight. And Lord, may we find every demonic spirit, every louse spirit. We pray the glory of the Lord. They're conviction on those words. Some have learned them. They've walked away. They've turned aside from you, Jesus. Bring them back tonight. Bring them back. Lord, draw them by your Holy Spirit, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen. The Bible says the Spirit speaketh expressly. That means outspoken clarity. No doubt about it. That in the last days, the days in which we live right now, we are in the last days, there will be many who depart from the faith. That's a prophecy that's being fulfilled before our eyes right now. Paul was looking through a telescope, so to speak, into history. He was looking all down through the ages. And he saw the very damage in which you and I are living. He saw these last days. He saw a time of people subject to no faith. He saw people being ruined. He saw people departing from the faith. Who were once on fire for good. Losing that fire. Very cold, apostate. And because iniquity had gone, the love of many would grow very, very cold. He saw that. You know, we talk about revival. We talk about a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus said, because iniquity had gone, the love of many were wax cold. The Bible talks about the last day churches being a lay of the sea in church. Which are increased with goods and so will be of nothing. A church will sleep well, ready to be spewed out of the mouth of God. He talks about a remnant being saved. I believe the dead pours out of the Spirit. It'll probably be in Russia. It'll probably be in China. Where they've never heard the gospel. In the past hundred years or so. God will move in a special way. Not really on a revival here in America. But the Bible makes it very clear. That there's going to be a fall of the world. Hearts are going to drift away from the world. A great fall of the world. Now, there was a fall of the world in a measure in past time. There was apostasy. There were deceivers. He said to Titus. For there are many unwilling and vain talkers and deceivers. He warned of crafty cunning men who lie in wait to deceive. He said even men and seducers will wax worse and worse. They will be deceived and they will deceive others. In fact, Paul said, Demas, my co-workers, forsaken me. Having loved this present world. They were falling away even in his time. But what Paul sees is so far beyond that. He sees an empire society. He sees the landscape just marred with shipwreck and ruin. Departing from the faith. I heard a radio talk show host the other day. Driving over to New Jersey. I turned on the radio. Someone called this very popular talk show host. And told him it was the last days. And he laughed. He's a Christian, but he laughed. He said, oh, you people have been talking about the last days for 2,000 years. He said everything continues as it was. Nothing changes. Every society has had its calamities. Now, he said, see me in 200 years. He said, talk about it then. But he said, everything continues. Nothing changes. That's exactly what the scripture says will be the attitude in the last days. Learn this first. But those who come in the last days stop this. Walking out to their own last day and say, where is the promise or the evidence of his coming? For since the farmers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the foundation of the creation. Now, these distinct things are not the same. They're not the way they were when you were a teenager. You may be in your 40s or 50s. I'll tell you, it's not the same country. It's not the same life. It's not the same way it was 10 years ago. And especially it's not the way it was 7 years ago. And I'm using 7 as a very special number. God uses this very clearly to delineate what's going to happen in the last days as far as judgment is concerned. Do you know, the Bible predicts that when a society turns its back on God, it is judged. It's either multiplied by 7 and its judgment multiplies in increments of 7. And I'm going to show it to you. I'm going to show you that the last days will be 2,401 times worse than in Paul's day. 2,401. You say, you flipped. Well, I want you to flip to Leviticus 26. Leviticus 26. 26 chapter. I'm going to show you something. People say, oh, it's just the way it always was. I'm headed somewhere, so follow me. Leviticus 26. I want you to begin reading with me at verse 14. But if you will not hearken to me, and will not do all these commandments, and if you shall despise my statutes, and if you shall abhor my judgment so that you will not do all my commandments, that you break my covenant, I ask you to do this unto me. I will even appoint over you power, consumption, burning, and consume your eyes, and passire of heart, and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you. You shall be slain before your enemies. They will hate you, shall hate all of you, and you shall flee when none pursue you. And if you will not yet for all this hearken to me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. Seven times more, that's seven times. Look at verse 21. And if you will walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. You've already multiplied it seven. Multiply it another seven times, and it comes out to 39, doesn't it? Is that correct? Verse 24. Then will I also walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times more for your sins. Multiply that, that's 343. Right? Then, then, then, to verse 28. Then I will walk contrary to you also in fear, and I even I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. Multiply 343 times, seven, 2401. Somebody said, well, it's worse. You say, no, it's worse. That's why the Bible so clearly says that sin will abide. It means run out of control. It'll spin out of control. It will abide. Even then you'll go worse and worse. It's not the same. Things are changing. Now, how do we explain, though, this falling away? You say, well, it's because it's 2401 times worse. No, because the Bible says the sin of God is graced as much more by Him. There may be 2401 times worse as far as iniquity is concerned, but I mean, you multiply. There's no way you can multiply the grace of God, how much grace of God. We have an ocean of grace that's poured out upon this generation. And while there's sin of God on our side, we've got a whole remnant of people going more holy and pure in the sight of God. It's not driving them to the devil. It's driving them to God. The more wicked, the more pure and holy they become. The more sin abides, the more they're driven to Jesus. I thank God for that. There's a holy remnant in the world today. All over the world. Now, it's not because sin is more powerful or more seductive. Not at all. Now, this generation that Paul sees is giving heed, he said here in Timothy, to seducing spirits. He said there's something happening. There's a generation in the last days. He's talking about this last day people giving heed. They're under the control of seducing spirits. In speaking of the last days, Jesus said, Now, false Christ and false prophets, he said, are going to show signs and wonders. If they do, they're going to be wicked signs and evil wonders. They're not going to heal the sick. They're not going to do good things. These are wicked signs. Don't look to the stars for them as if there's going to be some kind of thunder and lightning. They're going to create great healings and miracles. No, I think we've been blind to what the Scripture says. They're going to show great signs. They're going to be wicked signs and wicked wonders. I think if Paul the Apostle arose from the dead and came to the United States, and went to nations, went to the electronic department, and he saw all of those TV sets, that is VCRs, and he was told that the same picture was in front of us all over America. And then something comes on the screen and it horrifies him. It's filth and it's nudity. And he says, this is in every home. What a wonder. What an incredible wonder that is. What a miracle that is. That's a miracle for those who just 100 years ago were riding horse and donkey. There were no telephones. There were no television sets. I remember. No, I don't want to talk about it. Remember that. You see, the devil has taken a kind of a miracle off of the telephone. And look how he's even using that for a wicked wonder. Dial a phone. Did you hear? Here in New York City, the police department is exposed. I think they had a $90,000 bill. No, I'm sorry. It was more than that. It was half a million dollars. $90,000 to dial a phone to the police department and other departments of the government, civil service. $90,000 to dial a phone. Look at wonders. There's no other way to explain the falling away of these last days except this overwhelming satanic seduction. How can you explain what's happening even in the ministry today? How do you explain this great falling away? The scripture says the darkness and the seductiveness hunts the precious life. Goes after the precious one. Our ministry, I'm trying to find out. I'm asking you a question. How do you explain some of these things that are happening? That they've happened in a measure in past societies. It is out of control now. It is hundreds of times worse. How do you explain a young pastor that our ministry has supported for a number of years, It's a wonderful missions program to undeveloped nations. It's a feeding program. He has a church and he's got probably 10 or 12 young pastors under him. This young man was so inspired and so blessed of God. I've been deeply touched by his life and his testimony. We've supported him thousands of dollars over the past five years. Helped his feeding program and ministered. Helped him with the buildings and churches. He seems so gentle and so kind. Four children, a lovely wife. I got a call last week. His wife went to the wife of one of my associates. Weeping. She said, he's not ready at least to be in the pulpit at all. She said, come here. Let me bath him and show her the black and blue marks all over her body. She's been beating him. The children hate him. As a teenager they talk to him. And the man runs from convention to convention to convention. With his young preachers putting on this act telling what God is doing. And the man is living in sin. He is right. And standing in the pulpit he says, everything is okay. And going from convention to convention telling all the great things God is doing. Because he goes out in the street preaching and passes out tracts. And this associate of mine, the wife of the clown, just heartbroken said, how can that happen? Now it's out. Everybody knows he's being disposed. But he's trying to go on. How do you explain that other than an absolute symphonic seduction from hell? Seduced right out of hell. Friday night after the prayer meeting. I had a delegation want to talk to me from a southern state. And a lady said, please pray for us. Our church, God's church, she named it. And she said, we've just had a spiritual earthquake in our church. Found out that the pastor has been having an affair. The associate pastor's wife's been having a lesbian affair with another wife in the church. The youth leader is having an affair. In fact, the corruption was so much through the church that three righteous board members got up. And even though the pastors knew they were disposed and it was all through the leadership. They were trying to hold on to it. And they had to get up. The righteous men in the church had to get up and demand the house be cleaned. They said, thank God. It's all been cleaned up. God's doing the house cleaning. Now the preacher hated us. Those fellows hated our message. They hated the message that comes from trying to spoil church. In fact, they said it. They didn't like the truth of the church. No wonder. You got sin in your head. You don't hear any of these preachers. Did you hear me? So we got a house cleaned. Thank God there's a righteous man in our pulpit now. Hallelujah. How do you explain what's happening? Because even though these men have seen mass and television ministries. God's trying to put the fear of God after the ministry. These things have happened since then. How do you explain it? Right out of hell. From all across the nation now, we're hearing the heartbreaking cries of parents. They're losing their teenagers. The father in law, he said, my son is turning into a complete stranger to me. He once loved the Lord, went to church with his barber, had a tender heart. But now he only listens to his friends. He's such a moron, his own barber. He was so much in love with the Lord. Now he's getting deeper and deeper into the world. I see him dying, speechless right before my eyes. I see him getting cold and indifferent. And it scares me. I see him slipping away from me and slipping away from God. That boy is under satanic seduction. He's being seduced. A mother with an rebellious 17-year-old daughter. There's something very deep and strange that's happening to my daughter. She isn't outwardly rebellious, but she's changing. I can see it. I see the symptoms of rebellion. I can't put my finger on it. The world is calling to her. She was so on fire for the Lord. Now she just goes through the motions. Something has her heart. And I know what it is. I can't reach that thing that's hidden in her. And she said, it bothers me. It's frightening. That girl is under satanic seduction. To seduce means to entice and lead away from what is right and law. To be led away. And some of you sitting here right now, young people. The devil is trying to seduce you. He has you by the hand right now. He's trying to lead you away from Jesus. He's trying to seduce you. Lead you away from everything that is right. Everything that's pure. Everything that's moral and clean. He's trying to destroy you. So how does it happen, brother Dave? How does it happen to ministers? How does it happen to people in the church? Why is such widespread seduction? Why are so many falling left and right? There are many people who used to sit here a year ago or six months ago on fire for God. They're not here tonight. They are totally seduced. You see them on the street. They hardly talk to you anymore. Something's happened to them. They have the joy of the Lord. Now it's gone. They've been seduced. How does it happen? I want to unburden my heart to you as the Lord has put in my heart. First of all, listen closely. Satan cannot seduce you until he sees you freaking over the wall. Now, let me tell you that one of my favorite verses in all the Bible, one of my favorites, Zechariah 2, 5, He shall be to her a wall of fire round about, and a burial well in. All through the Bible it talks about Christians who walk with Jesus, having a wall of protection around them. The devil couldn't touch Job until God put that wall down. The Lord said he planted a vineyard and he put a hedge around it. If you walk with Jesus in righteousness, there's a wall around you, no demon or devil in hell can touch it. There's a wall, and Jesus is the burial inside that wall. I don't care how wicked your speed is. I don't care how wicked it is on the job. If you'll be in your home, if you're trusting Jesus and living an ever-coming life for Him, you are totally safe from all the seductions of the devil. You cannot be touched by these seductions. And you see a spiritual laziness sets in. A carelessness about the Word of God. Just letting it go one day, two days, three days. And folks, when trouble comes, there's something in human nature that causes us to drift rather than to be driven to the Lord. We just get lazy and grab, and we just throw our hurt rather than none to Jesus and lay that hurt down. Now there's a discipline in that. I felt that this past week. I said, oh God, I just don't fear what God and man plan to do. The Lord said, it doesn't matter whether you feel it or not, I need you. I, you see, I want you. Come, and I'm just unburdened now. And I got into my study, and I sat there, got 15 inches personal air. And I said, man, I don't have much to offer you. I feel so cold, and I feel kind of empty and dry. The Lord said, just tell me all about it. Just keep telling me. And I just kept telling him all about it. And I finally, the Lord whispered to my heart. He said, you can give me one thing I want more than anything else. More than your tears or anything. Give me your confidence. Just give me your faith. That I'm with you if there's anything wrong. I would have told you just to relax in my presence. Just love me now. Love me. That's the war. That's the war that's around us. You see, when you get careless and lazy about the things of God, that's why we keep emphasizing, Praise to God, that sounds outside the wall can't be heard. You see, on the other side of the wall is the devil's side. And the first step to backsliding is not a leap over the wall. It's just sneaking up to the wall and putting your ear to it. And suddenly you hear a sound you haven't heard in a long time. You've been out there, you heard it. But now you hear a little sound, a little music. You get louder. And you say, I have no intention of going over there. I just want to see what's happening over there. Some of you are up there. You've got your ladder up against the wall. Now you are leaning on the wall, looking up. You've got your ear. And you're saying, how can they do that? That's awful. I'll never go back there. I thank God I'm inside the wall, I'm safe. What are you doing on the wall looking? Let me tell you something. You wouldn't be on that wall looking out if you were satisfied with Jesus. And I'll tell you one thing. I've never seen anybody backslide that was satisfied with Jesus. And the whole thing is that you came to Jesus to get rid of your habit. You came to Jesus to get a little piece of mind. You came to Jesus to solve a problem. But you didn't come to Jesus. You get to man and get satisfied with him. I am satisfied with Jesus. How do I get near that wall? The very moment you pop your head against the wall, the devil sees you. Aha! Look at him. And what he does? He puts on a show. This is your life. And it's all designed just for you. He gets his demons together and sets his head to come up again. Here he comes again. Just curious. Just looking. The pastor told me of his heartbreak of finding out that one of the young counselors of his youth group that was in New York City, a counselor of his youth group, going to have been saved from homosexuality as a counselor. And he found out, the pastor found out later, that that young man took the whole youth group into a gay bar. Just to see how they lived so that they could get a burden of pain for them. And when they walked in, they would say, Hey, John! Hey, John! Hey, John! They knew John had been there. And Jesus, he's bringing them all in. Get a burden. He was seducing. That was the devil himself. Trying to get them to peep over the wall. He puts on a life. What is your thing? Music? Oh, you give me a show. This is your life. You just come on over here and I'll make you. Oh, you can make it. What is it? Dreams? You want to make money? We'll sell you all the money. We'll drink. We'll sell you. We'll give you a picture. We'll show you how the world leaders drink. You know how the world leaders drink? We'll show you how the world leaders drink. We'll put on a show for you. Young people, he puts on a show for you. The moment you stick your head out of that wall, you're under the sway of his seduction. You know what my Bible says? He satisfies. Speaking of the Lord. He satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with goodness. Those who are inside the wall, who stay here, who's in the side there, who's the blower there? Jesus is the blower. All you have to do is long for him. All you have to do is want him. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of his house, and thou shalt make them drink to the river of thy pleasures. Hallelujah. The best defense against satanic seduction is to be completely full of Jesus and allow him to satisfy every need in your life. I think I've told you. I was talking to Mickey Creasy. I said, Mickey, what's the one thing that's kept you alive these years? You've seen so many come and go. Many of your friends died. Many boxed it. How did you make it? He said, I fell in love with Jesus. I fell in love with Jesus. Folks, we're not saying that today like we should. You come to this altar tonight, it's not just laid down with sin. It's to fall in love with Jesus. So he comes and he's your food, he's your drink. You don't need the drink of those sisters. There's nothing the devil has out there. What can satisfy up your taste of Jesus? And he's famous. Hallelujah. He's come to fill every empty heart. Secondly, the devil will provide you, once you go over the wall, and you give in, you start drifting away, and you're seduced, the devil will provide you a doctrine to justify your seduction. He'll give you a doctrine to make it all right. To convince your mind it's all right. And it's very clever. It's kind of cunning right out of hell. The Bible said, give heed to doctrines and doctrines. Now the devil has a doctrine. And it's based on wicked principles to justify wrongdoing. It begins, this doctrine begins with confession. The devil believes in confession. Yes he does. Confession of sin. Yes he does. God did it this morning. We have people just come and say it now. Hallelujah. God, Jesus, forgive me. That's it. The devil will come to you and says, you go ahead. You admit that you're wrong. And you run into God. See, the devil knows that you're not going to bother with what you're doing is right. He knows you know better. And nobody has walked with Jesus, we've walked with sin, and the devil convinced him it's all right. It's all right to give to those who borrow. It's all right to do those things that you once laid down. You've gone back to the beggarly elements of the world. It's been so cunning, painfully in your mind, the devil knows in a thousand years, can he convince you that what you're doing is right. And he knows that you're under guilt. He knows you're in a condemnation. And he's going to come to you with that guilt. So he's going to come to you and say, go ahead. Tell your counselor. Tell your pastor. I know what I'm doing is wrong. It's dead wrong. I must not die right. I know it's wrong. Go ahead and say it. You see, that's exactly what the devil did to Saul. Saul was living in rebellion. And Samuel came to him and put his finger out as a prophet and said, you have failed in transgressing God. And Saul said, yes, I have sinned. I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord. And you know what? Your words answer. Answer. Confess to me, Saul. I'm sorry I've sinned. But that doesn't help you confess to me now. Because you've got to say, go ahead and confess it. But don't take the blame. There's a reason. You've got a reason for what you did. Saul said, the people made me transgress. He said that right after he confessed his sins. The people made me do it. Here's what's happening now. The devil is trying to sidetrack you by saying, go ahead, cry me a river of tears. Go ahead and admit you're messing up your life. Go ahead and tell everybody. Just don't show. Just don't admit to the problem. Just keep on confessing. You people sin, confess, sin, confess all their life. I've been out years ago in the barren. I've heard more confessions than sin in the barren. I've ever heard in church. I've had alcohol and sin on a bench with me. And cry a river of tears. Look at me. Look at the devil. Look at me. I've messed up my life. I lost my family. I lost everybody. Confession. I've heard hours of confessions. How I've been. Did you really know how I did it? My boss. My wife. My family. Everybody down there. I got messed up in my head. This is the end of slide one. You may now turn the tape over to slide two. Don't ever forget you had a reason for what you're doing. You've got a reason. I sat with a backslidden pastor a few years ago. I'll never forget it. It came to my mind this afternoon again. And he was a dear friend of mine. He'd been saved from drugs. And he and his wife were very active in the house of God. And they ministered to drug addicts also in their ministry. And he divorced his wife. Fell in love with a girl from one of the Teen Challenge girls programs. She'd been saved from drugs and alcohol. She'd been a prostitute also. He fell in love with, divorced his wife and ran off with this girl. I hadn't seen him in a long time. He'd left the ministry. And I was visiting the town and I called him. I said, would you have lunch with me? I'll never forget it. We went out in the motel by the swimming pool and sat there. And I was looking at them and they felt embarrassed. They're married now. And they're both back on marijuana. And they're both drinking. And I know in my heart that God told me he was pushing drugs. Because he was driving a Mercedes. And you know, just leave the ministry and start driving a Mercedes. I said, what happened? He said, here's both of them. They're holding hands. Here's crying like babies. And so tell me, you don't know what happened. We have problems almost every night. We know we've sinned before God. We know it's wrong. I've messed up. I've lost my ministry. I've lost everything. And, you know, it's just pouring out. I just feel so sorry. I just feel so sorry. Because he said, you know my family wife. You know she got hooked up with scripts and drugs. And we were fighting all the time. I have no peace of mind. I have no home life. And you know she's been kicked around since she was a little girl. She's had no home life. And she got all messed up. I'm the only one she's ever known. It's just like Bob was saying. They were saying, well God surely understands that. Surely God understands that. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. These people are justifying their sin. They're sitting there crying and confessing and blaming somebody for it. They're not really confessing. Oh, yes, I've sinned. But I have a reason for it. There's a reason why I can't change. There's a reason why I'm doing this. I prayed for them. And I thought we were trying to get through. I thought I was making some impact on them. I wasn't judgmental or anything. I was just saying, look, the only hope you have is to humble yourself before the Lord, forsake your sins, and seek God with all your heart. And God, in His mercy, if you don't give Him your heart and make a total confession, get this out. God's a God of mercy. But you've got to see the betrayer. My Bible doesn't say confess sins. It says confess your sins. Not somebody blaming somebody else. This is my problem. And you'll never be delivered from your sins and mercy. But to get rid of this doctrine of the devil that says, yes, you sin, you can admit it, you acknowledge it, don't try to hide it, that's not your fault. It is your fault. You can't blame somebody else. I had a minister not too long ago sit in my office. He'd just been released from his pulpit for a moralist charge. You know, he began to cry. And he said, I don't know how it happened. And he just began to cry. And I thought there was real confession there. But then he straightened up. He said, but baby, we've got to know something. And this is what the people don't understand. If they only knew I was molested when I was a boy. You know, there was a justification for the sin. Yes, I've sinned. I've failed God. There was a weakness there. But, and I'm telling you now, there's no freedom. There's no victory until you get rid of the buts. You get rid of the blaming of somebody else. No, I have sinned before God. The second thing in this doctrine of demons is the devil will come to you and say, alright, you have failed the Lord. You're slipping, but you can always find your way back. You can always find your way back. And just as sure as the devil used scripture on Jesus, he's going to use it on you. He'll say to you, alright, you're drifting. You're losing your faith. You're doing things that you never thought you'd do. You're back in your old ways again. But don't forget, Peter became Jesus. He got back. Manasseh in the Old Testament, man, he really messed up. He did more sin than all that God did get back. Didn't the prodigal son go and spend all his money pointing? Have a good time when he spent it all? And he went back and his father killed his father in chaos with his loose shoes and put a ring on his finger? Didn't Jesus go out from the little lamb, the straight lamb? Didn't Jesus go and take him in his arm? He left the 99. Didn't he go after that straight? That's you. You're the prodigal. You're the little lamb. He'll come. He'll find you. You're not Peter. You're betrayed him. But you'll come back and you'll have your Pentecost. And there's not a backslider on the face of this earth that ever leaves Jesus, albeit forever. It's always in his mind, this is temporary. I'm going through something, but I'll come out of it. I'll find my way back, or he finds me. Just before I hit that rock bottom, before I spin out of control, the Holy Ghost will come in. He'll save me. I know a lot of boys say, well, I got a poor mom. God's not going to let my mom's prayers go unheard. She's got power of God. Her prayers will prevail. Oh, baby, we've got a lot of people living today in sin under this idea. Well, I've gone so far, but I know. Let's all just preach it about the Lord loving backsliders for anyhow. Unless you're preaching about Jesus loving backsliders. I'm not lying, I'm a backslider. I'm not quite ready. I'll know when I'm ready. I'll know. I hear God until I get sick and tired of hearing it. I'll know when I'll be ready. I'll know it. Some people tell me, I'm not ready yet. You're not ready to lay down the party. You're not ready to lay down the lust. You're not ready to let down. And the devil comes to you and says, oh, there's been a time. All through the Bible, they've made it back. Oh, that's where you're wrong. That's where you are dead wrong. Jesus never did find his way back. The majority of Israelites did not find their way back. And the Bible's full of stories of men who never found their way back. They turned their back on God. You see, the devil didn't tell the rest of the story. There's a problem. It's called a hard heart. That's what God was preaching about this morning. Sin hardens you. And Jesus will always be there. But you're going to get hard one of these days. And not want to come back. You don't want to come back. You'll be so hard. You say, well, I'm waiting for that moment. And I know I should come back. I'm just not ready. And one of these days, the Scripture says, Lord, that I called you and I called you and I called you. And you didn't hear me. He said, when your day comes. He said, he that will not wait for it and hardens his heart shall be cut off suddenly without remedy. Without remedy. And I tell you, these streets are full of people who walked out on God. With God there, I'll go so far, then I'll come back. And that's the doctrine of demons. You go on, acknowledge your sin, go have a good time, party, and then you'll know when it's right. You're not a typical God. He won't let you go. A loving God heard you. He used to know how to please him. One of these days, you'll be pleasing him again. It'll be alright. Go ahead. Just have a little fling. And all the time, your heart's getting harder and harder and harder. And now you've been sitting in church and you've been sitting and preaching just like this tonight. Some of you might even be moved because you've heard it all. Your heart's already on the brink of hardening. You see, Jesus is still here with all the grace that's necessary and sufficient. He's here pleading through the lips of evangelists and pastors. And there's a church full of loving people embrace you and bring you back. But you sit there in hardness. Nobody can reach you according to the Holy Ghost. Because you have your own wall now that you've built. You know, there's something else about the doctrine of demons. He's got his own doctrine of holiness. You know, the real legalist is the devil. I saw this today and it broke my heart when I see it more and more. Would you read this again? 1 Timothy 4, chapter 1, verse 1. Verse 10. Now the Spirit speaking expressly within the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. What is the doctrine of devils? Speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience shaved with a hot iron, forbidden to marry, and commanded to stay in for weeks. That's real legalism. That's outward holiness. Look at me, please. I was in Poland. The pastors were with us in Poland. When we had crusades in Poland. We went through some of the great categories in Poland. You know what really shook me up? Made me angry inside. It was spiritual indignation. You go to these confessionals. And they were priests. Polish priests. Sitting in the confessionals. Listening to confessions. Dead drunk. How many men are so stoned? And someone like this. And they were telling us sometimes they had to have the men leave them out. They had to hold them up to get them out of the confessional back to the back of the vestry. But you see, that man won't marry. He won't eat meat on certain days. But it's alright to get stoned drunk in a confessional. You see, the devil will give you at least two areas where you can be real holy. Where you can launch out. And really put your heart into this matter being righteous. Go at it. You go to Hollywood, you'll see the epitome of it. You'll see the doctrine of demons out in full force. There are Hollywood celebrities. 95% of them. And maybe more. A majority of those in Hollywood. They're demonstrating for abortion. But don't kill minks. Kill your little animals. Don't kill the minks. Kill the babies. Save the mink. You see, the devil knows the conscience. He's going to be stoned soon. He's got to have, he's got to feel something. He's got to get him someplace to be holy. In the time of Jesus, the Pharisees never gave him 600 ways. They're plotting the death of Jesus and the death of horses. But they won't go in there until they wash their hands first to be clean. They've got murder in their hearts, but they feel holy because they're washing their hands. This is the doctrine of demons. It's the doctrine that a lot of preachers... There was one man in holiness circles in some camp meetings who preached holiness. And what his idea of holiness was, he was preaching against short hair and short dresses and makeup. That was, that's the kind of so-called holiness that you hear in a lot of churches today. That is legalism. But you see, he had muscularish holiness for him because his wife confessed it to one of our staff. And even when he came forward to be prayed for, you looked at him, you had woeful eyes. He was looking at everybody he could get his eyes on. The guy was full of lust and his wife said he watched pornographic movies. But you see, he stood up and roared. Because, you see, the devil wants you to get so focused on some outward extremity where you can feel righteous and holy until you don't look at the heart. Some age, not me, but inside full of dead man's bones. Father, there's a doctrine. I thank God for what the Lord brought forth about true grace this morning. And God's really been born into my heart. To cry out aloud against this, because it's creating such havoc among in homes. You can go to church, you can find them. And by the way, I'm going to say, if you want to name some of the churches, I'll give you the names. But I'm not going to do that because I'll be sending you to hell. But there are churches in this city you can go and you can have your conscience sued. You can hear some kind of a message. If somebody says, that pastor can lead you into some little area in your flesh that you can look holy and feel holy and not touch your heart. You grow up unchanged. No, God's interested in changing your heart. So that your heart is pure. So that your motives are pure. So that you're in love with Jesus. You're satisfied with Jesus. And the Holy Ghost can move on you because you're satisfied with what he sees. I'm going to use it just to know it. Some of you have already jumped the wall. You've been seduced by the devil. You've fallen from the Lord. Now, I don't have anything to offer you unless you come to the end of yourself. Unless you're desperate. You have to say, yes, I gave heed to the seduction. I've listened to the doctrine of devils. I've gone downhill fast. But I'll tell you what. If you feel tonight like, I'm helpless. I feel hopeless. I am down. I fear God. And I know there's some of you. Maybe a friend invited you here tonight. And he said, I don't know how it happened, but I gave in to the devil. I gave in to my lust. And I followed those justifications. And I'm sitting here tonight, and I'm at the end of myself. And I feel broken. I feel bruised. I feel down. I feel hurt. Good. That's exactly, because when you hit rock bottom, you bump into God. Hallelujah. You've got to come to the end of it. When you say, I can't go on. There has to be desperation. We've never been able to help a drug addict in all the years of King Charles, until they came to the end of what was in. Until there's no more hope. He has to be the only hope. The only life. The only thing that you want. And if you're at that place, there's a wonderful promise for you. And I'm going to read it to you. Don't turn to this. Matthew 12, 20. Speaking of Jesus. A bruised greed shall he not break. The smoking crack shall he not quench. Till he sends forth judgment unto victory. Now look at me, please. I used to play a saxophone. Don't ask me ever to pick one up again. I've lost my touch. Take that reed. There's a reed. Some people don't understand what the scripture is talking about. I'm a saxophone. Just give me your mouthpiece. I know you're talking because I had one of these. Do you have another reed with you? No. Oh, okay. You don't have another. I'll be careful with this. Right here is the reed. And I'll tell you what. That reed, if it gets blocked, you can't play the music. And when I played saxophone, my reed got a little chip on it. Or it got soaked. It got warped. I'd just take it off in church. Tear it in two and pick up another. My Bible says, A bruised greed shall he not break. See, the shepherds in that time used the reed in some of their wind instruments. They had little mouth instruments and used every piece of the reed. Some of them were vertical. They played this reed. And then when it became warped, it was useless. You couldn't make music. They'd just flip it and cast it aside. The flax was the wick. It was made out of flax. And it's the wick and the lanterns. The picture here is a shepherd who has played music on this reed. And it's warped now. Something's happened to it. And it's useless. And so he tears it up and throws it away. And there's someone who has a lamp. And it's late at night. And the wick has gone down. And there's nothing but smoke now. There's little spark there. And this is some person. It may be you. You've lost your music. You've lost your light. And you're useless, you feel. God can't use me anymore. I've messed it all up. You see, Jesus says, A bruised reed shall he not break. And a smoking flax shall he not quench. Jesus is in the business of bringing up the fire. He's in the business of restoring that broken reed. And healing it. He brings the music back. He brings the light back. He brings the fire back. He brings the usefulness back again. I have to close with a marvelous testimony. The Lord says, He said, tell these stories of my grace and my victory and power. Tell it to your children and your children's children. I never get tired of telling them the miracles of Jesus. I'm going to tell you the story tonight of Mary Thomas before I close. Because it's a beautiful picture of the Lord's grace. Then I'm going to give an invitation. And by the way, I'm telling you a story of a young couple that are going to be here in this church. January the 5th in this park, if you can tell it personally. They're flying in from California. James Thomas and his wife Mary graduated in 1965. And James Thomas right here in New York. James had been a drug addict for years and had fried his brain. He could hardly keep his thoughts. He just couldn't put words together. He had blown his mind. And his wife had started on drugs when she was young. She was a drug addict. They both came to Teen Challenge, met, got married. Both of them obviously called to preach. That boy went to Bible school. James went to Bible school. And he prayed, God give me a mind to know the word. He asked God to open up Greek and Hebrew to him. And this boy was a drug addict. This boy who was on the streets of the city became a Greek scholar. In fact, he outbid his teachers. The teacher once came to him and said, I don't have anything else to tell you. I can't teach anymore Greek. He's a Hebrew scholar. He reads his Bible and he's born Greek. I can't even. It's Greek to me. You know, I... Mary and James went to California. And he became Teen Challenge director. And Ms. Margaret used to... This was a number of years later. He taught in Bible school in Zion, Illinois. And a number of years later, I suppose 10 or 15 years later, Mary in California started Teen Challenge there. Working at Teen Challenge. And while James was busy working in the prisons, working with drug addicts, by the ease of God, she felt so useless. She couldn't find a ministry. And the enemy came in and began to seduce her. Telling her, you're no good. You're worthless. You have no future. Your husband is used. But there's nothing for you. And she allowed, whether we're going to the Lord or to the world, she was fit at being just fake. And she'd been an alcoholic as well as a drug addict. And Mary said, I don't know why I did it. I should have gone to the world. I didn't intensely set out to go back to the world. I didn't intensely set back at all. She said, but I just had this thing come upon me. And she started drinking Nyquil because it had an alcohol content in it. And she got hooked on Nyquil. And then she was able to get some prescription drugs. And within a year, James saw his wife go down into horrible alcoholism. She was staying out all night. And the caller would bring, he was known in all the prisons because he did details work in the prisons. And the sergeant would call up and say, we've got Mary here again. He'd go down in the middle of the night and bring Mary home. He'd go out nights, bars, and find her and bring her home. He'd pick her up in alleys, beat her, and bring her home. He still loved her. He said, I can't please other drug addicts. And God had revealed mercy to him. He'd gone through all his Bible in Hebrew and Greek and studied every word on mercy. And God had given him a merciful heart. He's one of the most intelligent young men I've ever met in my lifetime. And finally, it got so bad, he couldn't go into a prison. And one of the men, I don't know how it happened, he got this girl, he called me one day in our Texas office, and he said, baby, please, I'm at the end of my work. I can't go to prison anymore. I feel so bad because I'm trying to help others, and everybody's talking about my wife, and I'm having to try to pick her up. She's in and out of jails. She's been in all the jails, and it's just an old story. Mary's in jail again. And her teenage daughter was distraught and starting to go hankering toward the same lifestyle. I said, James, come on down to Texas and take some time off. And he came down, and we gave him a department, began to minister to him. And his heart was reaching out. He used to walk up and down the fields there in East Texas praying for Mary. He tried to call and call. They couldn't find us. He was out on the streets. And one day, Mary overdosed. And they found her totally beaten. She'd been beaten from head to toe. Her face was swollen with blots. And she wound up in the hospital in intensive care, and they called it cardiac arrest. And after 24 hours, she came to. She knew where James was. What did we get to do? The call came to my office, and I said, James. I went to get him. He said, James, Mary in the hospital wants to talk to you. She could hire me. I said, James, please come and get me. He said, baby, what am I going to do? I said, do you love her? He said, yes, but I can't take any more. I just can't. It's not that she's messed up. I can't see her down there anymore. It hurts me so much to see her suffering. He said, let me pray about it. I said, James, when did you make the move on her? He said, round-trip ticket. He came back in a few hours. He said, I'm going. He went in the hospital, picked her up in his arms, and carried her to the plane. I'll never forget the day he brought that mass of humanity to the apartment. Later, dead. I went in the first night, and it was so horrible. He just let me see her face. She was just waltz all over. She didn't hardly know where she was. James, for the next three days, just nursed her. Fed her. Her wounds, he was dressing her wounds. Just like a loving nurse. I'd walk out. I'd go in and see him, and I'd walk out in the house. I don't understand that kind of love. I'm afraid if that were me, my wife, messed up like that by men, and handled just like a piece of dirt, I couldn't handle that. But James was there, preaching mercy. Practicing mercy. You talk about a broken wound with smoking wax. There she was, Mary. It was a week later. We finally went in, and she was able to sit up in a couch. Walked in and recognized a demon manifestation. She was under total demonic control. Demonic seduction. Right there, God spoke to her heart. James and I, to take authority. We got up, laid hands on her, and within two minutes, those demon powers left. They absolutely left. They were gone. And this girl was totally delivered and set free. Marvelously delivered and set free. They stayed one year at our place for healing. The wounds were healed. They were so much in love. Within three months, they were still walking up and down the roads, holding hands like lovers, like newborn, like new kids. But I'll tell you what. Right now, James and Mary are back in Salinas, California. He's director of Teen Challenge in Salinas, California. And Mary is a secretary of the Senator of God Church in Salinas. And her daughter was marvelously saved and married to a fine young man of God. And Mary and James will be here in just a few weeks to give their whole story. You don't hear it. I've just told you the highlights. But, folks, I saw before my very eyes. I saw the mercy of God demonstrated to me. I saw a man showing Jesus. I've never seen it like that. He could quote the Scriptures. He took me one day all through the Scriptures on mercy in Hebrew and Greek. And I couldn't see it until I saw it in Him. Beloved, that's what Jesus is all about here tonight. If you're not justified in your sin, if you're ready to lay it down and say, I'm tired of it, it's nobody's fault but my own. I take full responsibility for my sins. And Jesus, I want you to come unbroken down. I need healing. What He did for Mary, He'll do it for you tonight. Please stand. I can't wait for you to see Mary. She's a beautiful lady. A real woman of God. I can't wait to see what God's going to do for some of you standing here tonight. What Jesus is about to do. He's going to heal some bruised knees. He's going to bring fire back. There's some smoking flax. The fire's almost gone. He's going to bring the fire back. He's going to put the music back. He's going to turn on the lights. Hallelujah. Lord, thank you. Holy Spirit, come now. Convict of sin. The backsliding. Those who've been running from you. Those who've fallen away. Those whose faith has grown weak and dim. Oh Jesus, put your arms around us tonight. Holy Spirit, go through all this house. Find everyone who's hurting. Everyone who's broken and bruised. And bring them down to this island. Heal every one of them tonight, oh God. Heal them tonight. This is the conclusion of the tape.